Ed Snowden talks with Ron Paul about the ‘deep state’ and who’s really in control

Donald Trump supporters have been outspoken about how the so-called deep state has been working behind the scene to undermine the president. In fact, Fox News host Sean Hannity, one of Trump’s most adoring cheerleaders, recently said it has become “a clear and present danger to this country and to you.”

But what exactly is the deep state and is it really even a thing?

Famed NSA-leaker Ed Snowden tackled the ”complicated” concept in an interview on Ron Paul’s weekly “Liberty Report,” and this is how he described it:

‘What we’re talking about is a mass of government that survives beyond administrations, but that is not responding to the politics of the people. This belongs to not a particular political party, but it serves across parties... across administrations.’
Ed Snowden

Snowden added that the deep state doesn’t end with the government, either.

“These people are from private war-making industries... defense contractors, intelligence contractors... these are people at think tanks,” he said. “It raises the question of who really has the most power in our society.”

Snowden suggests it’s not the voters or the politicians tasked to carry out their will, rather it’s “this larger constellation of influential groups and actors who are able to subvert and shape the decisions of these congressmen... or presidents.”

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